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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 2017)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | February 3, 2017 | PAGE 7 Retired Cleveland Iron Workers first to see pension cuts Retirees in the Cleveland Iron Workers Local 17 Pension Fund are the first pensioners in the country to see cuts to their re- tirement benefits as a result of the Multiemployer Pension Re- form Act (MPRA). Congress passed MPRA late in 2014 as an amendment to a bill to continue funding for the federal government. It received almost no debate. The law opened the door for trustees of severely distressed multiem- ployer pension plans to reduce benefits for current and future retirees—if doing so could save the plan from future insolvency. Changes must be approved by the U.S. Treasury Department. In a post on Local 17’s web site, trustees said participants “saved themselves by imple- menting benefit cuts now to avoid the projected insolvency in 2024.” The plan put forth by labor and management trustees of the Iron Workers Local 17 pension fund reduces accrued benefits and eliminates early retirement subsidies and extra benefit cred- its. Trustees said the average cuts are about 20 percent, but that includes workers who are years away from retirement. Roughly 336 current retirees will experience cuts of 30 to 60 percent, according to the Pen- sion Rights Center (PRC), an advocacy group. Out of 1,938 eligible voters, 616 voted in favor of the cuts and 320 voted against. Another 1,002 current and former work- ers in the fund didn’t vote. Un- der MPRA rules, the uncast votes were counted as approv- ing the cuts. The vote was administered by the Treasury Department. The cuts went into effect Feb. 1. According to PRC, eight other pension plans have ap- plied to the Treasury Depart- Seniors disconnected from White House Early in January, the Alliance for Retired Americans announced a “National Medicare, Medicaid & Social Security Call-In Day” for Jan. 23. The purpose was to send a message to newly-elected President Donald Trump, telling him to keep his campaign prom- ise of not cutting Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. Jan. 23 arrived, but when sen- ior citizens across the country called the White House com- ments line at 202-456-1111, they were met with a recorded mes- sage. “The comment line is cur- rently closed, but your comment is important to the president.” The recording then instructs callers to send comments online at www.whitehouse.gov, or by Facebook messenger. According to the Pew Re- search Center, 41 percent of Americans 65 and older do not have Internet access. “How are seniors suppose to get their message heard?” asked Scott Blau, president of the Ore- gon chapter of the Alliance for Retired Americans. Some media reported that the White House plans to get the phone line back up soon, though there is no confirmed time line. At press time, the comment line was still closed. Moreover, Trump’s White House Facebook account didn’t have Messenger installed. ment to cut retiree pension ben- efits. Four applications were de- nied and four others — impact- ing more than 71,000 workers — are in various stages of re- view by the Treasury Depart- ment. Another 70 plans are in “critical and declining” status and are eligible to make cuts. THOMAS, COON, NEWTON & FROST THOMAS, COON, NEWTON & FROST Under the Obama Adminis- tration, the White House used a team of volunteers to accept comments from callers. Jill Alcantar 360.787.6975
